Limbo
by Fantasy Cat
Summary: Post season 3.  A few years later, Olivia has succeeded in fixing both worlds but doesn't make it home.  Instead, she's pulled into a mysterious yet wonderful place where someone has been waiting for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** No owning of the Fringe

**Setting:** Several years after the Season 3 finale cliffhanger

Olivia ran as fast as she could toward the blinding light that would lead her back to her world. She had succeeded in helping the other side fix the problems that had plagued both worlds and now all that was left was to get home.

But she didn't count on the bridge between the two universes crumbling as she hurried to make it back to her side. The lab was so close, so within reach, that she could see figures of the scientists rushing about and the mad beeping of the machines.

_'Just a few more feet'_, she kept thinking to herself.

But the light was closing in all around her and she knew she was in trouble. She could've turned back but she knew it was too late. So she kept running forward. It was her only chance to live.

Soon, the vision of the lab before her was disappearing in a white light. Olivia could feel herself fading away.

_'No. No!'_

She wasn't going to make it. She was going to die here, in-between the two worlds.

At one point, Olivia could've sworn that something was pulling at her, a force of some kind. But it didn't matter now. The blinding light made it clear that death was inevitable.

All she could do now was to close her eyes as the bridge around her was alas destroyed.

…

Olivia could feel every muscle in her body cramping up. Even her eyelids were sore from constant squinting. She was curled up in a fetal position in an unknown place that was empty…very empty. It was as white as the light that closed in on her during the bridge's destruction.

Slowly she stretched herself out and opened her eyes. Everything seemed fine with her with the exception of her hands shaking but she then realized that she was naked. Even the wristwatch she wore on her wrist was gone. Instinctively Olivia curled up again but looking around, she couldn't find a single thing to shield herself. There wasn't a thing at all here.

So when Olivia heard the sound of footsteps, she had no clue where they were coming from. There were no doors and hallways wherever this place was. The footsteps were getting closer but Olivia was willing to prepare herself. Even without a single scrap of clothing on, she was still ready to fight to the teeth wherever she was.

But when the moment arrived, she found herself closing her eyes and freezing up. Not what she intended at all.

She could feel something hovering over her (practically breathing on her) then wrapping itself around her form. Olivia finally opened her eyes and looked down to see a white sheet wrapped around her.

"Sorry, it's kinda standard procedure for anyone that gets in here."

The voice sounded terribly familiar yet at the same time she didn't sound like anyone she knew. How could this be? Olivia got up and turned to see the man before him, dressed in a white kurta and pants to match their surrounding. And he seemed ecstatic, almost joyful even, to be seeing her.

It confused Olivia, yet it made her feel joyous as well. But how could it be? Did she really knew this man or was she just relieved to not be alone in this strange place?

"Olivia?"

"Stop," she said. "How do you know my name?"

"Olivia, it's me."

The man now seemed very disappointed. Clearly he knew Olivia but she knew nothing of him. She didn't want to question it but slowly her memories became jumbled, almost as if she had been living two separate lives for years. Soon, she felt a strange emptiness that succumbed her life the past several years that was suddenly now realize, suddenly now fulfilled. She looked at the man and now she knew him. She knew everything about who he was, who his family was, and more importantly…what he meant to her.

"Peter?"

He smiled. "Yeah. Olivia, it's me."

Peter placed his hands to Olivia's cheek. He was incredibly happy as he began to consume more of Olivia's memories. She was still confused but exhilarated.

"Peter? What…how did you…?"

"I wouldn't know where to begin," he said. "Oh god, I've missed you." He pulled her into his arms and started crying. Olivia felt shaken at first but slowly wrapped her arms around him.

"I can't remember," she said. "You were there, in the machine, but that was a few years ago. I can't remember seeing you after that."

"I've been here," he said. He let go of Olivia but was still insistent on holding her hand. He wanted to believe that she was real, that she was really here.

"Where are we?"

"It's the bridge. The bridge I made to save both worlds. You did it, Liv."

"I don't understand," said Olivia. "I've been through the bridge hundreds of times, the other Olivia too. How come I've never seen you until now?"

"I'll show you if you come with me," he said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Unfortunately you don't have much of a choice," said Peter. "I dunno how to tell you this Olivia, but there's no way out. You're trapped here now. We both are."


	2. Chapter 2

"Trapped? You mean we can't get out of here?"

"Hey, if there was a way out, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Are we dead?"

"Trust me, we're not dead."

Peter led Olivia across the white empty space that was slowly dimming before their eyes. The sheet that Olivia had wrapped around her also began to slowly form and merge until it fitted her like a dress. Infront of them was now a stone archway. It was when they crossed this archway that the white empty space gave way to a large open room. The first thing Olivia noticed was that the dome they were beneath was dark as the night sky and even sparkled with stars. In the center was a large pendulum that seemed to be hung with no support. As she looked over a balcony, Olivia could see that the pendulum was pointing down at a circular floor below them. The pointed end of the pendulum was slightly swerving around a small dot in the center of the floor. One half of the floor was colored red while the other was blue. This made Olivia realize the significance of the pendulum.

"It's our universes?"

Peter nodded. "The pendulum swings one way or another whenever one side is imbalanced. It's not swinging so much anymore, which is a good thing, but it's only when it stops moving and just stays right on the dot can the universes be truly balanced."

As Olivia was looking down at the circular floor, suddenly the last person she expected was walking by…the Observer.

"Peter."

Olivia tried to run along the balcony searching for a way to get downstairs, to jump down there if she had to.

"Olivia, stop."

Peter pulled Olivia's arm. "What are you doing?" Olivia protested. "I have to talk to him."

"It won't do you any good. I made a promise to these guys when I got here to never go down to the lower floor. That's their jurisdiction."

"Did they bring you here?"

"No. They were here when I showed up. I think this is where they live."

"But I don't understand it. How did you end up here? And why?"

"It was when I was making the bridge. I realized when I was making it, that they were going to erase my existence…that I wouldn't be coming back to your world. I was scared at first. I thought it meant I was going to die. But then I ended up here. If I had known sooner, I probably would've reconsidered. I thought it was the right thing Olivia."

The memories seemed to be crashing down on Olivia. How could she have not known that Peter had been missing for several years? She felt as though she was becoming her old self again around Peter yet at the same time it was someone she didn't like, someone who was distraught and confused. She almost didn't want to believe that Peter was real…that Peter had played a huge role in the imbalance of the universes. She was still trying sort out reality from the past several years without Peter.

"Olivia, I'm sorry. I never meant for you to get trapped here. But I saw what was happening with the bridge. You would've died if I hadn't brought you here. They're probably going to talk about you."

"What about?"

"I don't know," he said. "I hope it's to let you stay. They've considered sending me somewhere else but I don't know where."

Peter took Olivia by the hand and led to her to a nearby door. This door led to an open field. The sky was a strange dark bluish gray tint. The ground was a grassy knoll that felt clean and inviting to Olivia's bare feet.

"They have grass here?"

"They have anything I want here," he said. "I just have to think it up. You know it's kinda like you and the Cortexiphan."

"Yeah, except I never did figure out how to make it work unless I was scared out of my mind. You know that."

As they walked further across the strange meadow Olivia could see endless fields of white tulips. They seemed comforting, almost familiar to her, and beyond the tulip fields was a lake. On the other side of the lake stood one lone wooden house.

"This place looks so familiar."

"Reiden Lake," said Peter. "It was my parents' home…where Walter took me from. My life changed for the worst here, but it's still the only place I ever felt at home…well…I guess the house with Walter was a close second…and your bed."

Olivia laughed as they arrived at the house that Peter must've called home in this strange world since he got here. He seemed a bit shaky and nervous as they got to the door as if he was hiding something.

"Listen, I have to…"

But before Peter could say anything, the door opened on its own.

"Daddy!"

A small little blonde boy reached out to Peter as he picked him up. "Hey nugget. You staying out of trouble?"

The boy nodded. "Where d'you go?"

"I had to go pick up a friend," he said. The boy looked at Olivia curiously and Peter knew he couldn't hide the truth from here anymore. "This is Olivia. She's going to stay with us for a while, okay?"

"I'm hungry, daddy."

"I bet you are. Why don't you take your nap and I'll get dinner started okay?"

He put the boy down and he hurried upstairs.

Olivia looked at Peter in disbelief. "Your son? But how is that possible? I mean, is he someone you made up or…"

"No, Olivia. He REALLY IS my son." Peter looked really ashamed. "His name's Henry."

"I don't understand. I mean, he's just a little boy and you've only been gone for a few years and…"

Olivia suddenly looked at Peter. He didn't have to say anything. She had always been good at figuring things out. The name Henry was no coincidence. Neither was the timing. Olivia didn't know how to feel. But Peter could see the heartbreak in her eyes.

"Olivia…"

"It's her son, isn't it?"

"Olivia, listen. I never knew about him, not until I was making the bridge. That's when I first saw him…on the other side. I knew then that he was my son…and how he came to be. I just knew. I didn't have a whole lot of time to think about it, Olivia. I had to bring him to with me…I couldn't let his existence be erased too."


End file.
